Latest news with #Commentary
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Why moderate Dems scapegoat Bibi, Dems should drop green energy and other commentary
Conservative: Why Moderate Dems Scapegoat Bibi The left's 'anti-Israel litmus test is creeping into the mainstream' of Democratic politics, warns Commentary's Seth Mandel, as 'non-crazy Democrats' deal with how 'the 'genocide' lie has gone from opinion to gospel' among much of the party's base. Running for cover, some 'Democrats believe that if they criticize Netanyahu forcefully' over the war, 'they can fool primary voters into thinking they are condemning Israel.' But pro-Israel Dems have been trying this ever since Obama left office,' and jumped on it big when the Gaza war began. Advertisement 'This, in other words, has been Democrats' Plan A. If the party is already out of ideas' for escaping extremists' censure, 'the fate they fear is pretty much inevitable.' Politics desk: Dems Should Drop Green Energy Facing their 'lowest approval ratings in recent memory,' Democrats should 'reconsider some of their least popular positions,' explains Joel Kotkin at UnHerd, and start 'preparing to jettison Joe Biden's 'Green New Deal,'' which 'hurts middle- and working-class families by raising prices for housing, electricity and gasoline,' and is 'out of step with [the party's] once-reliable working-class base.' Yes, 'any shift back toward fossil fuels will meet ferocious opposition from progressives and their green allies,' and the most likely 2028 candidates look 'set to continue the policy of their green agenda while punishing the 'carbon economy.'' Advertisement Yet 'without a broader shift, Democrats risk alienating working-class and minority voters who bear the brunt of high energy costs.' 'To rebuild its coalition, the party must balance environmental goals with economic realities — or face further political decline.' Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Libertarian: Newsom, Bass vs. Housing 'California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass are doing their best to ensure that no new net housing is created during the rebuilding of Los Angeles' wildfire-ravaged neighborhoods,' marvels Reason's Christian Britschgi. Advertisement The pair 'issued twin executive orders' suspending 'a state law allowing builders to build duplexes on single-family zoned properties' or to subdivide lots — a law explicitly enacted 'with the goal of enabling more small-lot starter homes and 'middle housing' in the state's lowest-density areas.' But 'local governments have actively limited its effectiveness' and now Newsom and Bass have 'bent' to another 'local pressure campaign' over fears of 'enabling builders to profit off of the wildfire rebuilding efforts.' From the left: The Times' Atrocious Turn Charlie 'Savage and his colleagues at the [New York] Times have badly miscovered this story for nearly a decade, and continue to do so,' fumes Racket News' Matt Taibbi of a Columbia Journalism Review piece praising Savage's latest effort to downplay the latest revelations of chicanery in manufacturing 'Russiagate.' Savage seems 'laser-focused on setting up a legal defense against perjury charges for [former CIA chief John] Brennan' by 'arguing an absurd semantic point' about Brennan's lies about how he promoted the fictitious Steele Dossier as valuable evidence. Advertisement The Times won a Pulitzer for reporting that's now proved completely 'wrong and embarrassing'; 'isn't it time someone at the Times stepped outside the bubble, and took a hard look back?' Labor beat: Autoworkers Want Their Union Back The storied United Auto Workers union was 'hit hard' by the loss of manufacturing jobs and 'forced to look to other industries' for members, notes Frannie Block at The Free Press. Now, blue-collar workers are 'outnumbered by a hodgepodge of white-collar defense attorneys, librarians' and other left-leaning professionals. That's produced a 'chasm' between union veterans 'who are moving toward the political right' and newcomers whose roots are in 'campus activism.' Labor 'traditionalists' are 'uncomfortable' with 'an increasing embrace of the ideals of the far left,' including 'campaign ads supporting . . . Zohran Mamdani' and advocacy for Gaza. 'DSA members' who have never 'worked a day in an auto factory' now occupy leading roles in the UAW. — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
New York Post
20-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
‘Iraq Syndrome' is dead, why PBS & NPR had to go and other commentary
Foreign desk: 'Iraq Syndrome' Is Dead 'Fear of the expression of American military power has now dissolved,' cheers Commentary's Seth Mandel. In his first term, President Trump 'adopted a modified Murphy's Law that also governed his predecessor's foreign policy: Anything that can be Iraq, will be Iraq.' But that looks to have changed 'when President Trump ordered the successful strikes on Iran's nuclear program.' Notably, 'Ukraine is now benefiting from the Iran strikes because reality has dispelled the fog of Iraq Syndrome and the president is seeing more clearly.' Fact is, 'the 'just like Iraq' line of thinking isn't accurate, and now Trump realizes that.' How 'fitting that Donald Trump, who rode the effects of Iraq Syndrome all the way to the presidency (twice), would be the one to cure American politics of this malady.' Health beat: Med-Schools' Merit Malpractice 'The Supreme Court banned racial preferences in university admissions, but finding ways to maintain them has become a cottage industry in higher education,' blasts The Wall Street Journal editorial board. Medical schools are one of the worst abusers. A new study finds 'admitted black applicants had lower MCAT scores than admitted white and Asian applicants at 22 out of 23 schools.' At places like the University of Wisconsin, 'a black medical school applicant was about 10 times more likely to be admitted than white or Asian applicants with identical test scores and GPA.' 'In the admissions cycles since 2023, little has changed.' 'Preferences that elevate less qualified doctors won't reduce inequities in public health, but they will stigmatize successful minority applicants who excel.' 'Oh, and to remind, racial preferences are against the law.' Media watch: Why PBS & NPR Had To Go 'Let us call a spade a spade: NPR and PBS have earned the 'woke' label,' roars TIPP Insights' editorial board. That's why it's so great Congress just cut off federal funds. 'NPR is a wolf in sheep's clothing. It enjoys the tax-exempt privileges of a 501(c)(3) organization, yet operates as a de facto mouthpiece for the Democratic Party and progressive ideology.' Two GOP senators, Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), voted against the cuts, crying about the 'impact on rural and tribal communities.' 'It's a flimsy argument': Both 'stream through the internet and airwaves,' so 'even the most rural communities can access their content instantly.' As we've asked before,'In a world of endless streaming and podcasting, why are taxpayers still funding a media cocoon for coastal elites?' Spy world: Russia-Hoax Document Bonanza The 'floodgates' of 'long-classified information' about the Russia-hoax scandal may finally be opening, reports Paul Sperry at RealClearInvestigations. Documents include a secret audit revealing that an 'intelligence community assessment on Russia ordered by President Obama after the 2016 election' was framed to portray Trump as beholden to Putin. A US intelligence official 'alleged the outgoing administration weaponized' Russian intelligence 'to sabotage President-elect Trump.' The information could 'strengthen a criminal case' against Obama intelligence officials like former CIA chief John Brennan. Former FBI officials say prosecutors have 'sufficient grounds to charge Obama's FBI and CIA officials with criminal conspiracy.' Statistician: Medicaid Fearmongers' Bad Math Yale law professor Natasha Sarin's claim that 'at least 100,000 more' Americans will die over 'the next decade' due to Medicaid cuts 'reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept of 'statistical lives saved,'' warns Aaron Brown at Reason. Sarin 'and several other prominent journalists misinterpreted a recent working paper' by economists Angela Wyse and Bruce D. Meyer, which estimated 'that the Medicaid expansion reduced mortality among eligible adults between 0.40% and 4.52% ,' or about 27,400 lives. But these are 'statistical lives,' and 'these same government programs also take many statistical lives.' 'Counting statistical lives' is 'a debased currency, because it counts each actual life multiple times. And citing only the good side of the ledger makes it impossible to evaluate.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Page
New York Post
02-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
When judges get lawless, pushing Jews to quit and other commentary
Courts watch: When Judges Get Lawless Despite repeated Supreme Court warnings against nationwide injunctions, obstinate district-court judges kept insisting upon their right to 'micro-manage' the executive branch, fumes The Federalist's Margo Cleveland. That created a 'consequence-free environment' where 'incorrigible' judges could serve 'ideology' rather than real justice. Judges are doubling down on their unconstitutional demands, with one just last week entering 'an order at odds with a Supreme Court decision only hours old.' At this point, 'one must wonder what would happen if Trump decided he's done following the lawless orders of the district courts.' Will these judges realize in time that 'their own lawlessness is destroying the reputation of the courts'? Hate beat: Pushing Jews To Quit 'When institutions make life uncomfortable for Jews, there is usually a simple reason for it: Those with influence within the institution want fewer Jews hanging around,' argues Commentary's Seth Mandel. 'The British Medical Association's descent into an unhealthy fixation' on Palestinians and no 'other oppressed minority' sure looks intended to drive out Jewish members. And 'North Carolina's Democratic Party executive committee' just 'passed a resolution accusing Israel of 'genocide' and calling for the US to institute a defense embargo against the Jewish state,' culminating a prolonged push to make the party 'even more hostile to Jewish members.' As 'these 'symbolic' tactics proliferate,' realize they're 'not actually focused on Israel' but on finding 'ways to make Jews feel uncomfortable.' Foreign desk: Euro's Green Debacle 'Europe's latest meltdown over environmental policy' is 'entertaining,' quips The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. A new EU 'rule would force companies to hire consultants to vet claims about environmental friendliness that firms slap on their packaging and marketing.' 'An uproar kicked off last month' when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's spokesman 'suggested she might drop the proposal.' Left-wingers in the European Parliament 'are furious that she might abandon a green policy they like.' Her U-turn 'could open the door to a no-confidence motion against her.' 'Many European voters and most businesses probably would cheer, or at worst shrug, if Ms. von der Leyen dropped the green rule.' 'Yet climate piety is so deeply ingrained in Europe's political class that many struggle to read the electoral winds,' proving 'this episode is European dysfunction in a nutshell.' Democrat: Good Riddance to Randi Weingarten Now that American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten has resigned from the Democratic National Committee, party leaders should 'lock the door behind her as she makes her way out,' snarks Ben Austin at The Hill. 'Weingarten was a key architect of the disastrous Biden-Harris pandemic school closures,' which erased 'two decades of learning progress' for school children and also eliminated 'Democrats' massive electoral advantage' on the education issue. On school choice, she 'gaslit' Democrats into opposing GOP initiatives as she tried 'to make sure there is no choice of any kind.' 'The party that invented public charter schools under Bill Clinton, then scaled them under Barack Obama, can't even say 'charter school.' ' Democrats were once 'the party of public education because they had the courage to fight for it.' 'That courage is needed again.' Economists: Things Are Great Populists right and left have united in 'doomsaying' over a 'zero-sum grievance' culture, grumble Clifford S. Asness & Michael R. Strain at The Free Press. Both sides fret that 'the game is rigged, the system is broken, everything is awful, and life was better decades ago.' In fact, 'there has never been a better time to be alive than the present day.' Consider 'the undeniable reality of today's extreme broad-based prosperity and human flourishing' worldwide. 'Wages for typical American workers have never been higher,' the rate of violent crime 'has been cut in half' and 'personal consumption is at a record level.' Beware: 'The news business relies on outraging you.' While our country isn't problem-free, we have it 'pretty, pretty good.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
New York Post
23-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
How Trump changed the future, kill the suicide bill and other commentary
From the right: Don Just Changed the Future 'In the case of the Middle East what Trump said about himself is true,' marvels Commentary's John Podhoretz. 'He said he doesn't start wars. Trump said he ends wars' — and Saturday night 'was Trump ending this evil war of Iran's, either right now or after more pain causes the mullahs to cry uncle. For Israel didn't start this war either. It was launched, by Iran and its catamites, on Oct. 7.' The strike's 'impact is potentially so enormous, and so world-historic, we needn't rush into interpreting its larger meaning.' But: 'Trump has said since the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., that he believes God spared him for a reason. And now, so do I.' Conservative: Kill the Suicide Bill Gov. Hochul should veto 'The Medical Aid in Dying Act, which passed the State Assembly in April,' and 'would allow people diagnosed with terminal illnesses to request a prescription for lethal drugs,' urges City Journal's John Hirschauer. Besides moving to 'effectively recognize suicide as a human right,' 'the bill has relatively few safeguards,' as 'it does not require that the person requesting the drugs be psychiatrically evaluated.' 'And the bill's drafters declined to include a residency requirement,' meaning people from across the country could come to New York and euthanize themselves. 'Human life is marked by terrible suffering.' 'But once the state decides that anyone, on account of illness, has the 'right' to kill himself, it has decided that suffering can render life worthless.' Liberal: UFT Winning Mayoral Primary New York schools are 'worse today' despite 'an incredible $36,000 spent per pupil — about twice the national average — with National Assessment of Educational Progress scores of 28% proficient in reading and a few points more in math,' grumbles Joe Klein at Substack. One problem: Teachers, like other city workers, are 'unable to be fired.' Although education 'is the absolute key to future success for New York,' it 'hasn't been much discussed in the Democratic mayoral primary.' In a Manhattan Institute report, all of the candidates 'received D's and F's, except one' — Whitney Tilson, 'an obscure Wall Street moderate' despised by the teachers union. The UFT hasn't endorsed any candidate, likely due to its 'utter confidence that the winner will abide by its wishes.' From the right: LA Needed Trump's Help 'Gov. Gavin Newsom told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that local law enforcement officers were 'sufficient to maintain order' ' in Los Angeles, yet LAPD officers tell Heather Mac Donald at The Wall Street Journal, 'We don't have s— under control.' She cites numerous instances of violence that, by 'sheer luck,' weren't life-threatening. 'Should Trump have waited to see if the locals' would eventually control the situation? The answer's clear: 'Police Chief Jim McDonnell put the LAPD on tactical alert' and canceled all time off. Yet days later, Mayor Karen Bass nonetheless had to order a curfew. 'Still the disorder continued.' Fact is, 'There is more danger from tolerating' lawlessness than from responding to it 'with all legal means.' Libertarian: Cut the F-35 'As the U.S. grapples with ballooning federal budgets and increasingly necessary spending cuts, the military remains ripe for austerity,' blares Joe Lancaster at Reason. The F-35 jet is a perfect example of a 'program that deserves to be scrapped.' Since its inception after 9/11, 'the jet has proven itself not ready from prime time, both more expensive and less functional than promised.' Too bad 'the House Appropriations Committee's proposed Defense Appropriations Bill for 2026 would spend $8.5 billion on F-35s,' and 'President Donald Trump has called the F-35 'the greatest fighter jet in the world.'' 'The F-35 means to replace previous-generation aircraft like the F-16, but instead, the obsolete models are running circles around their intended replacement.' Every new thing we hear about the F-35, 'proves that it's long past time to kill the program.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
New York Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Behind Trump's Israel backing, leftist rot ruins universities and other commentary
Foreign desk: Behind Trump's Israel Backing 'There are several plain reasons why President Trump has been vocally supportive of Israel's mission in Iran so far,' explains Commentary's Seth Mandel. The prez 'loves a winner' and 'so far, Trump likes what he sees and doesn't want to stop seeing it.' He 'said he would stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon' and 'the IDF has gotten results.' 'If all he has to do is sit back and watch it happen, why wouldn't he?' Advertisement He also likes prefers flexibility, and: 'At this point, Trump hasn't overcommitted to anything and hasn't ceded control of his own ability to adjust as he sees fit.' Backing Operation Rising Lion lets him be a winner and fulfill a key campaign promise. Campus watch: Leftist Rot Ruins Universities 'The radical-left [campus] monopoly is a threat to America's democracy, institutions and national well-being,' warns John Ellis in The Wall Street Journal. Advertisement Treating 'criminals as victims' along with 'pronoun madness, defunding the police and so on' all began and metastasized at universities, 'the national headquarters of the radical left.' Team Trump is spot-on in aiming to 'end wokeness by targeting DEI and critical race theory in universities and the federal government.' But more's needed: 'Ending woke foolishness and returning universities to their former brilliance is possible only if the political monopoly is broken up.' With that, the country 'would take care of DEI, critical race theory and even antisemitism, because these are all created by the monopoly.' Advertisement Republican: Radicals Betray Mexican-Americans 'As someone proud of my Mexican heritage and deeply patriotic about my American identity, I find it offensive' that 'American citizens, many of Mexican descent' are 'setting fire to vehicles' and 'waving foreign flags' to protest Trump policies, fumes Rep. Myra Flores at The Hill. 'President Trump is doing what any responsible leader would: enforcing the laws already on the books,' yet Democrats 'deliberately blur the line between legal and illegal immigrants so they can demean Republicans as 'anti-immigrant' or 'xenophobic.' ' 'They want to lump us all together so that criminals and patriots alike share the same label.' So 'the actions of a few radicals now tarnish entire communities.' Advertisement No! 'We are a nation of immigrants, yes — but more importantly, we are a nation of laws.' Conservative: Randi's Power & Dem Corruption Teacher-union boss Randi Weingarten's long tenure as a member of the Democratic National Committee 'is proof of the open corruption of the Democratic Party,' thunders the Washington Examiner's Zachary Faria. While her union 'was funneling money to Democrats,' she 'was directing CDC guidance.' Hypocritical Democrats rant 'about Republican 'dark money' and the undue influence of groups such as the National Rifle Association,' yet 'the DNC was happy with this corrupt relationship with Weingarten and her union.' The liberal media are just as corrupt as they 'made next-to-no mention of her DNC role and offered almost no pushback against her as she used her union and DNC influence to write CDC policy and keep schools closed.' Legal beat: Colorado's Pro-Trans Oppression 'You'd think that after two significant losses at the U.S. Supreme Court, Colorado would tread more carefully with its anti-discrimination laws,' snarks USA Today's Ingrid Jacques. But a new law making 'deadnaming and misgendering transgender individuals a punishable offense' has 'already attracted lawsuits on the grounds that the law violates the U.S. Constitution, including the First Amendment.' Advertisement One federal suit outs the measure's aim as 'suppressing traditional views on sex and gender and punishing those who refuse to address transgender-identifying individuals using so-called chosen names and preferred pronouns.' A second defends the rights of businesses like XX-XY Athletics to use language 'vital to the company's branding and advertising.' Any law 'requiring citizens to use language that's simply not true or accurate will never pass muster when squared with the First Amendment.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
